Amar’e Stoudemire: “Everyone Wasn’t A Fan Of Jeremy Lin Being The New Star”

Amar’e Stoudemire returned to Madison Square Garden on Sunday for the first time since being waived by the Knicks last February. Stoudemire spoke to reporters prior to the game against the Knicks, and some of his comments implied that not all his former teammates had bought into the triangle offense last season, and that perhaps Carmelo Anthony may have have harbored jealous feelings towards one-time Garden sensation: Jeremy Lin.

His comments regarding Lin, who played with the Knicks during the lockout-shortened season, perhaps confirmed rumors which have floated around for years that Anthony, the team’s star then and now, was not happy with the attention Lin was receiving during the ‘Linsanity’ period. Stoudemire implied that may have been the case.

“If he [Lin] stayed, it would’ve been cool,” Stoudemire said of Lin. “But everyone wasn’t a fan of him being the new star, so he didn’t stay long. But Jeremy was a great, great guy. Great teammate. He worked hard. He put the work in, and we’re proud of him to have his moment.

“A lot of times, you gotta enjoy someone’s success. And that wasn’t the case for us during that stretch. … You got to enjoy that. You got to let that player enjoy himself and cherish those moments. He was becoming a star, and I don’t think everybody was pleased with that.”

After the game, a 98-81 Miami win, Anthony was surprised that the New York media were still bringing up the incident after so many years, but added that he didn’t believe Stoudemire was talking about him.

“That was [four] years ago? I don’t know,” Anthony said. “I don’t have no comment about that. If [Lin] was becoming a star, we should embrace that. I don’t know. We didn’t embrace it? Was that the word?”

“If that was the case, then I’d be upset right now with KP [Kristaps Porzingis] if he’s talking about me. I doubt if he’s talking about me. I doubt that. I highly doubt that.”

Stoudemire did mention that the current state of the Knicks saddens him, given that he spent four-and-a-half seasons in New York, but he maintained that not all Knicks bought into the triangle last season.

“It’s been a lot going on and it hasn’t really been great over the years,” the Heat center said. “It’s hard for me to watch from the outside looking in because I was so involved with creating a positive atmosphere around the Knicks. Now it’s gone the opposite way.

“I truly bought into (the triangle). I thought it was great. Maybe three-fourths of the team thought it was great,” he added. “But if you don’t have a full team that buys into a system, it’s never going to pan out. The triangle offense is based upon ball movement and ball penetration. There’s a lot of intelligence that’s involved in the triangle offense that you have conquer and understand. But if you don’t have a full team that buys into it, it’s not going to work.”

Image credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Stoudemire feels that Anthony needs to produce more for the Knicks to turn their current situation around.

“It’s tough,” Stoudemire said. “When you get involved in this situation, you have to take ownership of it. You have to make sure you made the right decisions for your team and teammates. You have to become a complete player in order to bring your team out of a rut. Everyone can’t do it. It’s not always easy.”

Stoudemire has been on two playoff contenders since leaving the Knicks (Dallas and Miami), and gave Anthony some words of advice on what he needs to do if he wishes to win a championship.

“If you want to win, that’s the main priority. And if physically you can’t do it as a player and make your teammates better and get them to the point they can win, then you surround yourself with a team that’s built to win,” Stoudemire said. “And for me, I knew Father Time was ticking on my clock, so I wanted to put myself in a position around other Class A players, put myself in a position to at least compete for a championship.”

Feature Image via: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images